Bteselm/ 15 April 2024

At the beginning of the war, I moved to my parents’ house in the a-Saftawi neighborhood in the northern Gaza Strip. After about a month and a half, we all moved to a rented apartment in the a-Sheikh Radwan neighborhood. On 3 December 2023, my father, Khaled Abu Jiab, 72, was sitting at the entrance to the house when suddenly, the area was heavily bombed. He was seriously injured. I called my husband, Ahmad Abu Foul, who works as a paramedic, and he came with an ambulance and took my father to al-Awda Hospital. My father had surgery at the hospital, but his condition was severe and he passed away the next day. We buried him in a soccer field nearby. It was a very hard day.

Shaimaa Abu Jiab-Abu Foul before the war. 

On 12 December 2023, I learned that the home of my husband’s family was hit and he lost 28 members of his family, including his first wife, Islam, and three of their children. Only ‘Ula, 14, survived. She was injured and taken to al-Ma’amadani Hospital. I went there the next day to be with her.

‘Ula was injured in her left leg and in the head. We were in the hospital about six hours, and then we went to the Red Crescent hospital in Jabalya Refugee Camp. We stayed there until the Israeli army invaded the area and surrounded the place. For four days, it was forbidden to leave the hospital, and the food almost ran out.

Then the army ordered the injured people and women to evacuate the hospital. I took ‘Ula and we left on foot. There were other injured relatives of Ahmad’s with us. We walked along a rough path, full of sand and stones, until we reached a school. It was very cold and there were no window panes in the school. There were no blankets or food, either. We slept with nothing between us and the floor. ‘Ula sat in my lap all night and shivered from the cold.

The next day Ahmad joined us, and together we moved to another school. We stayed there until early February, when Ahmad managed to coordinate with the Red Crescent to transfer us to al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis. I went there in an ambulance with ‘Ula and my mother-in-law. It was raining and very cold.

When we got to Netzarim checkpoint, the army stopped us. They asked our names, asked to see our ID cards, and took photos of us. Then the ambulances continued to al-Amal Hospital. At the hospital, they took X-rays of the injured people. I was there with ‘Ula until 9 February 2024, when the army invaded the place with tanks and the soldiers arrested me.

That day, tanks surrounded the hospital and the soldiers called out to the displaced persons to evacuate. They said that only injured people and their escorts were allowed to stay. The soldiers ordered the escorts to go into in the hallway and the injured people to stay in their rooms. There were about 80 women and more than 100 men being treated there, and together with the escorts we were about 300 people in total.

They ordered us to pull up our shirts and pull down our pants down a bit, and the soldiers stood in front of us

The soldiers ordered the men to strip down to their underwear and searched them. They demanded that one of the nurses search the women. They ordered us to pull up our shirts and pull down our pants down a bit, and the soldiers stood in front of us.

After I was frisked, I went to a room where Ahmad’s sister Khadijah, 38, was with her children, Ibrahim, 16, ‘Ahed, 12, and Muhammad, 11. They were displaced, not injured.

An officer came and asked in Arabic, “Where is Shaimaa Abu Jiab?” When I answered, he asked me what I did for work. I told him I volunteered with the Red Crescent, and then he left. About 10 minutes later, the officer came back and ordered me to stand behind some young men, and then he tied my hands with zip ties and told me, “Keep your eyes down.”

They arrested me along with 15 young men. The officer wrote numbers on our hands and said, “You’re all going to Israel.”

They arrested me along with 15 young men. The officer wrote numbers on our hands and said, “You’re all going to Israel.”

It was nighttime. They loaded us onto an armored personnel carrier (APC). They tied our feet, too, but didn’t cover our eyes. The zip ties hurt me a lot. They took us to a building with soldiers in it. I think it was still in Khan Yunis. They covered my eyes with a piece of cloth, and I heard them ordering the young men to strip down. Then they hit me with a rifle on my neck and head, and hit the young men, too – I heard them shouting in pain. The soldiers swore at us.

An APC arrived and they loaded us onto it and took us to somewhere else, not far away. They hit everyone who got in. A soldier led me to the APC, pointing his rifle at my backside. I was blindfolded, and my hands were tied behind my back, so I couldn't climb into the APC by myself. A soldier picked me up and threw me inside. From under the blindfold, I could only see feet around me. I shouted out to them not to step on me by mistake, but the APC was making a lot of noise. Someone, I think it was a soldier, sat me up. The whole way, the soldiers swore at us.

We reached a place I couldn’t identify. The floor was tiled. They sat us outside, and it was cold. Then they took us to another place, which I think was inside Israel. They took us off the APC and put us in a tent. The ground was sandy. I saw from under the blindfold that they were searching the young men. Then they brought in two female soldiers who frisked me with my clothes on.

Afterwards, they put us on a bus and took us somewhere else. When we got off the bus, a female soldier treated me cruelly. She shouted at me and used force to take me off. She made me sit on the ground and pressed my head down so that it touched the ground, near her feet. She held me like that for about 10 minutes, and then grabbed me and pinned me down so I couldn't move. I felt that I was becoming paralyzed. It was so painful, I cried. I felt cramps. She untied my hands and legs and left the blindfold on. Then she ordered me to take all my clothes off, and told me there no reason to be afraid because there were no men around. I don't know if that was true or not.

They gave me a sweatsuit to wear and took me to a medical clinic. They asked about my health. I told them I have joint inflammation in my legs and hips.

They put me in another vehicle and took me to a prison. Later, I learned it was Anatot. Female soldiers frisked me again, and then took me to a large shed. They blindfolded me and tied my hands and feet. We sat in an open shed surrounded by a barbed wire fence. There was a wooden board with a mattress on it, and I sat on that. When they removed the blindfold, I saw young men from Gaza next to me in the shed. After a whole week or so, they also untied my hands and legs.

The toilets were disgusting, without water or means for cleaning. My neck hurt from the beatings and it was very cold. Once in a while, I imagined my mother beside me and talked to her. I felt like a little girl asking her mother to keep her warm. The female soldiers would shout at me: “Shut up, you bitch.” The male and female soldiers spat at us, and if they said good morning it was with a swear word, “Good morning, you whore” or “you slut” or “you daughter of a slut.”

I could barely stand, but they forced us to stand next to the barbed wire fence every day. My neck hurt, and I kept trying to support it. They didn’t give me any painkillers. They passed us food through the barbed wire fence, but I could barely eat.

I really felt I was going crazy

They didn't let us sleep, either, only three hours a night. In the last three days, they didn't let me sleep at all, in the day or in the night. The soldiers would sing in Arabic and put on music in Arabic to keep us from falling asleep. Then I really felt I was going crazy. They brought in a girl from Khan Yunis called Nirmin and put her with me, but didn’t allow us to talk to each other. Because I could hardly eat, they told Nirmin to feed me. After three days, they took her away for interrogation and didn't bring her back to where I was.

One day they took me into interrogation. The officer asked me my name, where I worked, and where I was arrested. He asked what I knew about the tunnels and whether anyone in my family belonged to Hamas or the Islamic Jihad, and whether I knew where the Israeli hostages were. Then they took me to Damun Prison and held me there for 41 days, on Wing 3. There were women from the West Bank being held there, too. The room was filthy. I had a very hard time there. My whole body hurt, especially my neck. They let us take a shower and I poured hot water on my neck, which helped.

Then they transferred me to Room 9 on Wing 4. The room was cold and damp. The only treatment we received was paracetamol, and even that was scarce. The food was very bad, and when we asked for something else, the guards refused and said that's all there was. During Ramadan, the food was even worse. They brought us food that had been cooked the day before or food that was rotten, rotten jam, pasta with insects. It was meant to humiliate us.

They didn't allow us to contact a lawyer or the Red Cross.

After 48 days of detention, they told me I was being released, but I didn't believe them. They tied my hands and feet, blindfolded me and put me in a cage, and then they removed the blindfold.

Then they took me out of the cage and blindfolded me again. They put me in a jeep and took me back to Anatot Prison. I really thought I was being released, and suddenly I found myself in that prison again. They took my details again and took me into interrogation that was like the previous one. The same questions. The interrogator told me: “Sign.” I said: “I don't want to sign anything in Hebrew.” He said, “Sign, for your own good.” So I signed.

I took everything off except my underwear because I was menstruating. They told me: “Stand facing the wall.” A female soldier came and felt my underwear

Then they took me to a room, untied me and ordered me to strip. I took everything off except my underwear because I was menstruating. They told me: “Stand facing the wall.” A female soldier came and felt my underwear, to make sure I wasn’t hiding anything. Then they said: “Get dressed.” They took my sanitary pad and threw it away.

I couldn't bear the conditions in prison anymore, the torture, standing for an hour, the wooden board I sat on, the filthy clothes and the dirty shower. An officer came and I told him I was ready to be released and didn't understand why I was there. He interrogated me again and asked about what happened on October 7th and whether I knew people who entered southern Israel. He said Hamas raped the women and asked if I was okay with that. I told him our religion prohibits rape. I told him I was being tortured, the soldiers were treating me badly, and making me sit on a wooden board in the sun all day. I said: “If you don't want to release me, send me back to Damun Prison.”

I was detained for 56 days. I was in a very bad state mentally. I couldn't bear it anymore. I prayed to God to free me from this suffering. I missed my mother. I missed my husband. I was afraid of losing my mother and my family. Bad thoughts haunted me – what if I returned to Gaza and found them dead?

On 4 April 2024, a soldier came and ordered me to put my hands out. He tied my hands and feet and blindfolded me. He asked me about my ID card, and then they took me to a bus. I heard young men on the bus saying “ifraj”[release]. The bus drove for a while and eventually dropped us off by the Karam Abu Salem [Kerem Shalom] crossing. When we got off the bus, we started to run. There were other buses there. They were all young men, and I was the only woman.

At the checkpoint, I met someone who knows my husband. He called him and let me speak to him. When I heard Ahmad's voice, I broke down. Then he let me speak to my mother, and I burst into tears. I thanked God that I was released after all the suffering I went through. My brother Ra'ed came. He picked me up from the checkpoint and drove me to Rafah. He moved there.

* Testimony given over the phone to B'Tselem field researcher Olfat al-Kurd on 15 April 2024